Bronco bustin'

Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovich caught himself checking the game clock more than once during the fourth quarter of today’s battle with the Broncos at Gillette Stadium.

“I wanted it to go faster,” Ninkovich said, “so we could get the game over with.”

There was a good reason for Ninkovich’s impatience — Peyton Manning had the ball in his hands.

The Patriots had a 10-point lead when Denver linebacker Von Miller recovered a Stevan Ridley fumble with just over 5 minutes to play. The Broncos obviously needed two scores, but Manning had them on the move in a hurry, firing off completions of 17, 9 and 28 yards to move his new team inside the New England 15-yard line.

Ninkovich, who strip-sacked Manning in the third quarter, stopped what would be Denver’s last drive from going any further with his second huge play of the game as he knocked the ball away from running back Willis McGahee as he ran up the middle. The Patriots got the ball back and, to Ninkovich’s delight, ran out the clock and registered a 31-21 win.

“Having Peyton Manning with the ball at the end of the game is always nerve-racking because he’s made those comebacks in the past,” Ninkovich said. “So I was happy to win the game, and we stopped them, so I was happy about that.”

Today was the 13th installment (10th in the regular season) of Manning vs. Tom Brady, and, who knows, maybe one of the last between these two greats.

Manning completed 31 of 44 attempts for 345 yards and three touchdowns and tried to lead his team back from a 31-7 third-quarter deficit, but ultimately fell to 4-9 in the marquee matchup. In his career, Manning is a rather miserable 2-7 in games played in Foxboro.

“Anytime you’re playing against a good football team you have to be able to convert opportunities when they present themselves,” Manning said, “and we had some chances and just didn’t do it overall consistently.”

The Patriots came up with three Denver turnovers.

The Patriots scored a field goal on their last possession of the first half, a touchdown on their second of the second half and added to the lead by converting the Ninkovich strip sack, which Vince Wilfork recovered, into another TD to build a 24-point lead with 4:42 left in the third.

Manning led the Broncos on a 10-play, 90-yard drive later in the quarter, and after the Patriots failed to convert on fourth-and-5 from the Denver 37 midway through the fourth, Manning marched the Broncos into the end zone in six plays.

“Any time you have a quarterback like that on your squad,” Wilfork said, “the game’s never over. I don’t care how many points you’re up or down, it’s never over.

“Being able to go out defensively,” Wilfork added, “and (our) offense turning it over and the defense taking the field, actually getting the turnover ourselves, that was a big statement for us.”

“We had a chance on that first possession,” Manning said. “Any time you can start the game on the road with a touchdown, with points and settle the crowd down — instead we sort of flipped it and gave them some momentum. They got the lead and never lost it.”

McGahee was coming off a 100-yard performance against the Raiders, but the Broncos failed to get their running game going against the Patriots, managing 70 yards on 20 carries for a 3.5 average.

“We have a lot of good players as far as up front and (the secondary) does an excellent job keeping us clean on the back end,” said Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo, who had a game-high 13 tackles, including a sack, and is easily on pace for a 100-tackle season. “We’re doing a pretty good job against the run, but we’re always trying to improve.”

A pass interference call on cornerback Devin McCourty in the end zone set up the Broncos’ first score, a 1-yard touchdown pass from Manning to tight end Joel Dreessen that tied the game, 7-7, less than a minute into the second quarter.

The Patriots ran the ball well again (251 yards), Brady was 23 of 31 for 223 yards, and New England set a franchise record with 35 first downs. The Patriots sustained numerous long drives and won time of possession (35:49).

“It’s great to have the ball on offense,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “It’s great to have a long drive, but you still have to go out there and play defense.”